Irpin, Ukraine:
Spanish traveler Alberto Blasco Ventas looked out at the destroyed Irpin Bridge in Ukraine, which was blown up in 2022 to hold back Russian troops and is now a hotspot for thrill-seeking tourists visiting the country.
Russian troops planned to cross the bridge in their attempts to capture the Ukrainian capital of Kiev at the start of the war.
The Russian army has since retreated hundreds of kilometers away, but has been launching missile and drone attacks almost daily on the Ukrainian capital that Blasco Ventas has chosen as a holiday destination.
“It’s my first time in a war zone,” said the 23-year-old software engineer. “I’m a little scared, I’m not going to lie because you never know.”
He was on a “dark tourism” tour, offered by one of about a dozen Ukrainian companies specializing in a marginal but growing sector, allowing tourists to visit sites of tragic events.
To reach Ukraine, he shook off his family’s worries and boarded a flight to Moldova, followed by an 18-hour train ride.
The wannabe influencer filmed every step of the journey, which he planned to post on his YouTube channel – followed by 115,000 people – where he has already found the “most terrible mental hospital” in the United States and “the most dangerous border” described. in the world, between China, Russia and North Korea.
‘Like a vaccine’
Before the war, Ukraine already welcomed tens of thousands of tourists every year to Chernobyl, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Responding to critics who would view such trips as morbid or immoral, Blasco Ventas insisted he acted “with respect.”
War Tours, which organized his visit, said it has received about 30 customers since January, mostly Europeans and Americans who paid between 150 euros ($157) and 250 euros ($262) for the entire tour.
Part of the profits will go to the military, said company co-founder Dmytro Nykyforov, who insisted the initiative was “not about money, but about commemorating the war.”
Svitozar Moiseiv, the manager of tourism company Capital Tours Kyiv, said the profits are negligible but the visits have an educational value.
“It’s like a vaccine to prevent this from ever happening again,” he said.
The visits generally focus around Kiev and its suburbs, where alleged massacres by Russian forces took place in early 2022.
But some companies are getting closer to the front – including a multi-day visit to southern Ukraine that could cost up to 3,300 euros.
‘The second best’
American Nick Tan, who works in finance for a New York technology company, was among those who wanted to go even further than Kiev.
So in July he went to Kharkov, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is constantly bombed by Russian forces, located about 20 kilometers away.
“I just wanted to see it because I think our lives in the West are just too comfortable and too easy,” the 34-year-old said.
He said he wanted to get even closer to the front, but was faced with the refusal of his guide.
The self-confessed thrill seeker said he had already gone skydiving and regularly attended boxing classes and raves.
“Jumping out of planes and partying all night and punching people in the face wasn’t enough for me anymore. So what’s the next best thing? Going to a war zone.”
His search stunned some residents of the scarred suburb of Irpin, who live under the constant threat of Russian airstrikes.
“Recently, a Shahed drone fell 300 meters away from my house. I wouldn’t want to go through this kind of experience,” said Ruslan Savchuk, 52.
“But if people want that for themselves, that’s their right,” he said.
Savchuk advises Irpin on his tourism strategy as a volunteer.
“Even a topic as difficult as war can lead to something good,” he said, adding that tourists can generate useful income for local communities.
‘See our sorrow’
But Mykhailyna Skoryk-Shkarivska, a city councilor in Irpin and former deputy mayor of Bucha, said most residents are fine with “dark tourism” but some see its profits as “blood money.”
“There are accusations: ‘Why do you come here? Why do you want to see our sadness?'” she said, recalling conversations with locals.
Mariana Oleskiv, head of the National Agency for Tourist Development, said the development of war tourism raised many ethical questions, but the market would undoubtedly grow.
Her agency prepared specific training courses for guides, as well as memorial tours in the Kiev region.
The Russian invasion caused an immediate collapse of the tourism sector, but the sector’s revenues this year should exceed those of 2021 – a year marked by the coronavirus pandemic.
That growth is mainly due to domestic tourism, fueled by Ukrainian men of fighting age, who are generally not allowed to leave the country due to martial law.
According to Oleskiv, Ukraine even had 4 million foreign visitors last year.
The number is twice as high as in 2022, but consists mainly of business travelers.
Ukraine is already preparing for the post-war period, including by concluding agreements with Airbnb and TripAdvisor.
“The war has brought attention to Ukraine, so we have a stronger brand. Everyone knows our country,” Oleskiv said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)